Preface
The number eight is special in China. It is auspicious, lucky both because of the way it sounds (like the words for prosper or wealth) and for its similarity to the character for joy when written down.
Officially, China is a modern state run on scientific principles that has cast aside superstitions like lucky numbers. And yet the Beijing Olympics started at 8:08 p.m. on August 8, 2008.
That sort of paradox is anything but rare in China. The difference between surface impressions and the reality of doing business or traveling in China is one of the lessons anyone interested in the Middle Kingdom needs to absorb.
China is a country where religion was banished, and yet to understand the Chinese you must understand Confucianism and its religion-like ...
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